Developed and edited by Valmik\n Thapar, one of our foremost wildlife experts, the book is divided into three\n sections. The first section, ?Thoughts from Elsewhere?, written by Thapar,\n takes the reader on a quick tour of the country?s natural heritage in the\n twenty-first century. It provides an overview of mammalian distribution, the\n characteristics of individual species, the evolution of the country?s\n wildlife habitats, threats to the environment and much else besides. The\n second section, ?The Wildlife Chronicles?collects the finest accounts of\n India?s animals from the first century onwards. It has stories about the\n great predators?tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, golden cats and\n others; magnificent herbivores like the elephant, rhino, wild ox and the\n various species of deer and antelope; evocative accounts of some of the most\n striking animals in the country including monkeys, squirrels and other\n arboreal creatures; as well as reports of rare sightings of river dolphins,\n bats, shrews and other lesser-known members of the animal kingdom.\n Contributors to this section include travellers, hunters, writers,\n photographers and naturalists such as Pliny the Elder, Ibn Battuta, Babur,\n Akbar, Fran?ois Bernier, Isabel Savory, Jim Corbett, George Schaller, Kenneth\n Anderson, M. Krishnan, E.R.C. Davidar, Peter Jackson and Ruskin Bond. The\n third section, ?Wild Fire?, contains a selection of some of the finest\n photographs ever taken of India?s mammals. The most comprehensive book on\n Indian mammals ever published.? Content\n culled from over a million words on Indian mammals by the world?s top\n wildlife writers. Rare pictures selected from tens of thousands of exclusive\n pictures by the world?s top wildlife photographers. Most of the world?s top\n writers on Indian mammals represented in the volume. Some of these pictures\n have never been seen before. Written and edited by one of India?s greatest\n living naturalists, Valmik Thapar.